New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

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Good Fossicking places

Hunter		Posted : Saturday, 21 January 2012 8:53:58 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 11/01/2012(UTC) Posts: 122 Location: Auckland Thanks: 22 times Was thanked: 29 time(s) in 19 post(s)		Hi guys and girls , Just starting out fossicking drove three and a half hours to Ross but it looks like this place has been picked clean, but would have no idea where to start looking in the South Island. Any help would be greatly appreciated I don't what your secret areas just a bit of direction. Thanks to all and a extra thank you to the guys who run this web site I have a Gold bug SE, Garret Sea Hunter MK II, Minelab X Terra 305 and last but not least a Garrett Euro
		2014 Rings PLT/PLA=0 GOLD=5 STG=18 Junk=4 Other Gold items- 4

kiwisouth		Posted : Saturday, 21 January 2012 9:49:30 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Medals: Groups: Registered Joined: 3/04/2010(UTC) Posts: 326 Location: Blenheim (Renwick) Thanks: 39 times Was thanked: 105 time(s) in 83 post(s)		Crikey, you've got some toys
		Nulli Illigitimi Carborundum
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Lammerlaw		Posted : Saturday, 21 January 2012 9:57:52 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 24/05/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,721 Thanks: 72 times Was thanked: 579 time(s) in 396 post(s)		Sometimes it pays to start off in an area where gold is commonly found - not heaps and heaps but where you can almost gaurantee to find some - the Lindis is a great place and also Arrowtown. Watch others who seem to know what they are doing and where they are looking - dont be afraid to ask for pointers - ask them to show you what they consider is the most likely spot to find a colour or two. Nearly everyone will be happy to give you helpful hinters and once you get the hang of where to look and how to go about it then you wont look back. Once you start finding colour and know the sort of spot you are most likely to find it then you can progress. If it is a lot of gold you want or larger nuggets then you have to take the next step - really do your research on the place you are about to go - what to expect there. Know where the gold is likely to be found there, old wash, river bed, cracks, crevices, that rusty strip of wash high on a cliff, that band of iron sands running through a bank, under the peat - get to know that particular gold field and where the gold was found on it, the type of country it was found in...get to learn to read the land...all are hints to success. Where I go colour is indeed a rarity so that it is nuggety material I am most likely to find or larger bulkier flakes - if you do not know the land and how to read it, if you dont know the spots where gold is likely to be found then in the areas I go you simply will not find it...but if you get some practice in the Lindis and Arrow Rivers then you will get to know where it is likely to be found and can then translate that to other locations where the gold is bigger but colours not near so abundant - Hmmmm - I hope that all made some sort of sense! Another thing to is to always take shorts to paddle in the creek, always take a glass bottom box and a bent screw driver and tweezers and clean out even the tiniest of cracks in the Lindis and Arrow rivers. In other rivers as well...you might be not only surprised but amazed at what you find. Good luck!

Karl McDowell		Posted : Sunday, 22 January 2012 6:35:56 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Nugget Groups: Registered Joined: 11/07/2010(UTC) Posts: 47 Location: Auckland Thanks: 13 times Was thanked: 39 time(s) in 29 post(s)		Just to add to what Lammerlaw said - learning how to read a stream is important. In particular looking at the curves and where the gravel is collected helps to understand where gold will be deposited too. Have a look at this article which has some really good diagrams that show typical stream geometry where gold is deposited. As an aside there is gold in the public fossicking area at Jones Creek in Ross, but you'll have to work pretty hard to get anything more than a few colours in your pan. Knowing where to look is the key. Same advice will hold true for pretty much every gold bearing stream you visit. Edited by user Sunday, 22 January 2012 6:36:54 PM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified

gjj109		Posted : Monday, 23 January 2012 7:50:18 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Medals: Groups: Registered Joined: 14/03/2011(UTC) Posts: 464 Location: Thames Thanks: 217 times Was thanked: 194 time(s) in 115 post(s)		Hi Martin, If you are doing a bit of panning and/or running a sluice box, have a bit of a crack at Goldsborough. Always a few fines to be had and there are always a few like-minded soles there, most of whom won't mind showing a new bloke the ropes. It also is probably your closest public fossicking area and, in my opinion, one of the most consistent.

Hunter		Posted : Monday, 23 January 2012 8:46:40 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 11/01/2012(UTC) Posts: 122 Location: Auckland Thanks: 22 times Was thanked: 29 time(s) in 19 post(s)		Originally Posted by: gjj109 Hi Martin, If you are doing a bit of panning and/or running a sluice box, have a bit of a crack at Goldsborough. Always a few fines to be had and there are always a few like-minded soles there, most of whom won't mind showing a new bloke the ropes. It also is probably your closest public fossicking area and, in my opinion, one of the most consistent. Dude that would be Sweet I would love to know what Im doing
		2014 Rings PLT/PLA=0 GOLD=5 STG=18 Junk=4 Other Gold items- 4

Maverick		Posted : Tuesday, 24 January 2012 6:38:45 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Nugget Groups: Registered Joined: 7/06/2011(UTC) Posts: 78 Location: ChCh Thanks: 2 times Was thanked: 9 time(s) in 9 post(s)		funny you should say it was picked clean in Ross, a mate of mine who used to live there always said it was easy there, and after a good flood he could often just pick up flakes as he walked up the river, he also said it would pay to make an effort and get right up the top of the area. and some time ago i was told that Shamrock creek wasn't any good, but i think the bloke i was talking to decided it was too hard work to go and show me the ropes, which put me off for a long time, and only recently got interested again.

goldtimer		Posted : Saturday, 28 January 2012 5:29:07 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Flake Groups: Registered Joined: 8/05/2010(UTC) Posts: 26 Location: New Zealand Thanks: 5 times Was thanked: 11 time(s) in 9 post(s)		From my experiences, you will always be able to find something at Goldsborough. Jones' creek can be good, but it is more patchy, so not really ideal for a beginner although you never know. Good luck

Hunter		Posted : Saturday, 28 January 2012 5:45:28 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 11/01/2012(UTC) Posts: 122 Location: Auckland Thanks: 22 times Was thanked: 29 time(s) in 19 post(s)		Well Thanks to all We are heading down to ArrowTown Heres hoping
		2014 Rings PLT/PLA=0 GOLD=5 STG=18 Junk=4 Other Gold items- 4